This invention relates to an improvement in devices for use in the dispensing of predetermined quantities of liquid formulations into the toilet bowl of a toilet tank and bowl combination at the conclusion of each toilet flush cycle.
It is now possible, through the periodic dispensing of known chemical formulations into the water in a toilet bowl, to essentially eliminate the unpleasantries associated with the cleaning, deodorizing and disinfecting of the bowl. To facilitate the application of liquid chemicals to this end, the prior art relevant to the present invention provides a number of different devices which are adapted to function automatically, in cooperation with the flushing cycle of a toilet, to dispense a predetermined quantity of such a formulation into the fresh water fill in the toilet bowl at the conclusion of each flush cycle. Of the various types of these known devices, the dispensers of perhaps most significant practical utility, and of specific interest herein, are those which are containable entirely within the toilet tank of a toilet tank and bowl combination and which in general terms comprise (a) a reservoir for the storage of a supply of a desired liquid formulation, (b) a pump of the positive displacement type (e.g., a piston or diaphragm pump) having a pumping element reciprocally movable through a pump chamber, valved inlet means in liquid receiving communication with the reservoir, and outlet means adapted for liquid delivering communication with the toilet bowl, (c) a float vertically movable in response to the cycling of the water level in the tank during a toilet flush cycle, and (d) coupling means between the pump and the float or between the pump and the reservoir for transmitting the relative vertical movement of the float and the reservoir to the pump thereby reciprocally displacing the pumping element in its working stroke direction through the pump chamber. Illustration of dispensing devices of this sort is provided by U.S. Pat. No. 3,254,797 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,657. Descriptions of related devices may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,761,151, 3,060,457, 3,084,350 and 3,913,151.
With regard to all such dispensing devices intended for working containment within a toilet tank, it is recognized in the art that the physical size of a given device is critical to its successful operation and widespread consumer acceptance. A device of this nature should be suitable for use in toilet tanks having a broad range of design and mechanical features without interferring with their normal operation. Size and configuration of these dispersing devices are particularly critical for application to the modern low-silhouette and water-saver tanks.
Although there is recognition in the art of the advantages of compact devices, the float elements of known dispensers necessarily occupy a significant amount of space within the toilet tank, both with respect to the displacement volume occupied by the float in providing buoyant force and with respect to the space necessary to accommodate the vertical movement of the float during dispenser operation. Both the magnitude of the buoyant force and the length of the stroke provided by vertical movement of the coupled float contribute to assuring a positive driving force for operation of the dispensing pump. It is not possible to substantially reduce the size of floats of conventional design, whether sealed floats as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,151 or inverted cup-shaped floats as shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,254,797 and 3,890,657, without adversely affecting dispenser performance.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide dispensing devices of the sort herein described which are more spatially compact than conventional devices, and thus more suitable for application to their intended purpose, without adversely affecting dispensing performance.